This study is designed to provide an experimental analysis of the mechanisms involved in a) the synthesis of piperidine, b) its accumulation in the central nervous system during hibernation, c) its release from the nervous tissue upon electrical stimulation, and d) its action on nerve cells. The preparation used throughout this study will be the circumoesophagael ring of ganglia of the snail Otala lactea, on which we have previously demonstrated the occurrence of these four topics of our study. The experimental methods used will be: 1) thin layer chromatography for separation of dansylated amino acids and amines from studied tissues; 2) quantitative mass spectrometry for identification and quantitation of fractions obtained by thin layer chromatography; 3) liquid scintillation spectrography for quantitation of radioactive fractions obtained by thin layer chromatography; 4) in vitro perfusion of the ganglionic ring and stimulation of nerves for studying the release of amines and amino acids; 5) intracellular recording from neurons in the ganglia and intracellular current injection for measuring the responses of nerve cells after exposure to tested substances; 6) microiontophoretic administration for localized exposure of selected regions of nerve cells to tested drugs, and 7) light microscope autoradiography for identification of structures in the central nervous system containing different concentrations of a radioactive compound.